Piling On

Since the second quarter of the Missouri debacle in early September, Ron Zook has been a “dead man walking” and his team is destined for more misery in the coming days. For all the conjecture regarding player departures, RZ’s mental state and the welfare of the University, one constituency has been ignored; the fans and alumni. Apparently, our loyalty and continued faith in the AD and his beleaguered Coach are expected without question or regard for those of us who buy tickets and contribute to the DIA.

Saturdays events, although shocking in magnitude and scope, are the likely conclusion to a season fraught with missteps by an AD and Coach who remain clueless in the extreme. We have reaped what we have sewn with a schedule destined to produce failure and a defensively oriented Coach, whose teams gave up a collective 102 points to teams without football history or real pedigree in the last two weeks of the season.

Defections, that were dismissed by experts when estimated in the range of six, are now anyone’s guess as it relates to quantity or impact. The sky is not falling, rather, it has already fallen along with all the crap in the atmosphere as we are left navigating a field littered with debris and fallout from the catastrophic failure that was once our football team.

Kudos, salutations and credit goes to the 45,000 fans who stayed away in droves and demonstrated in no uncertain terms that they will not be ignored. The message to the AD was the football equivalent of the “ghost of Christmas’ to come” and it must have sent shivers up the spine of those whose mantra is based on being and staying in black. Do the math and project the expected indifference that awaits the 2010 version of Gilligan’s Island and the metaphor that immediately comes to mind is “the Red Sea’.

As we reflect back on our collective wretchedness otherwise known as the 2009 Football season, I am reminded of the question posed in my very first Blog entry written after the Missouri game and I think it bears revisiting:

“For all Ron Guenther's protestations that he is a football guy, he has never selected or presided over a coaching tenure that produced a winning record. The Zook era which took on so much promise after its unexpected Rose Bowl appearance in 2007, is now a team in turmoil as it teeters on the brink. Guenther for all the facility building he has completed, has presided over one National Championship in Gymnastics and a superb tennis program that now appears to disintegrating before our very eyes.

Guenther's scheduling woes have angered sky box and premium seat holders as well as local merchants and just about anyone else who follows Illinois Football. As Zook and Illinois try to build a brand and create a culture of winning, the AD is defending the toughest schedule in the Conference which includes only six home games.

September 5th 2009, "a date that shall live in infamy" will either be remembered, like its truly serious forerunner, as monument to Zook's pluckiness and perseverance or the first line on his Illinois football obituary. We may not learn much from this weeks matchup with 1AA opponent, Illinois State, but rest assured, by mid-October, the tea leaves will be clearly read and the future of Illinois Football hangs in the balance.

Fans affections are a fickle mistress and Zook has as many detractors as fans; we shall see what he is made of in the coming weeks; stay tuned "as the world turns.""

The questions still remain, but the answers are clear, exercise damage control, bite the bullet or face the wrath of a Nation scorned. We are a forgiving group as the record shows, but we have our limits . RZ’s Obituary is all but written as the Reaper commences his grizzly task. The clock has struck midnight, the bell has rung and woe unto those who walk the night after the sky has fallen.